


The Wedding Week

by thewonderfulworldofme



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 09:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4701719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewonderfulworldofme/pseuds/thewonderfulworldofme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Percy is invited to the wedding of his cheating ex-girlfriend Mari, he invites Annabeth along, in hopes of getting over Mari- until he realises he is head over heels in love with Annabeth. <br/>Based on a prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic I have uploaded. I hope you enjoy! Feedback is welcomed.

Percy Jackson felt his heart beat wildly in his chest. He had just gotten home. Per routine, he checked the mail and was humming horribly off tune to a song from Little Mermaid as he flipped through the envelopes. His body went cold when he saw the name in green letters at the left corner of one of the letters.  
“Mari Rodriguez”  
Shaking slightly, as if in a trance, he opened the offending envelope. He read it quickly and slowly felt blood moving through his body again.  
“What the ACTUAL PANCAKE,” Percy shouted.  
(Long ago, he decided swearing wasn’t worth the effort. He was a swim teacher at the local beach for ages two through twelve, and after a few incidents of terrified kids and furious parents, he put food in the place of curses.)  
Percy felt the wooden rods of the chair dig into his shoulder blades. Everything seemed to get uncomfortable, and he jumped up. Now, he couldn’t stop moving. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, thanks to the ADHD he had been blessed with. It was extra awful when something unexpected happened.  
He walked out the door again and, without realizing where he was going, got into his car and was on the road in less than a minute. Percy was in a haze of feelings. He wanted to scream. He wanted to shut down and cry. He wanted to go up to Mari and shake her, hard.  
None of that would do, so instead, he found himself at the beach. He got out of his car and barely remembered to lock it. Skidding down the sand, Percy threw off his shirt and pants and got into the salt water, head first.  
As soon as he was submerged, he felt his thoughts clear. Percy always felt better in the water. He thought it had to do with his long relationship with it. Every year when he got out of another awful boarding school, Percy’s mother would take him to Montauk, a beach on Long Island. He loved it there, even though too often the water was too cold to swim in. It just felt good to be there.  
Percy stayed in the water for about half an hour, trying not to think about anything but the feeling of being somewhere where there was no expectations, no stupid weddings to be invited to…  
When his fingers were sufficiently wrinkled, Percy walked out of the water. He took a deep breath and shook his hair out like a dog. He heard a familiar snort and looked up.  
Standing there was his best friend of thirteen years, Annabeth Chase. She was holding a towel, and wrinkled her nose in disgust when he walked up to her and sprayed her with water as he shook out his hair again.  
“Hey,” Percy said, and smiled. After being in the water, being around Annabeth was the surest thing to make him feel better.  
It hadn’t always been that way. When they first met at twelve, they fought constantly. Their families were not on good terms, a long standing war, but ironically, parent trap style, they were sent to the same summer camp one year. Annabeth and Percy butted heads and raised a few eyebrows and smirks from the other campers. By the end of the summer, though, they realized they were better off as allies. They had been paired together on several adventures, such as getting a huge trophy get back to the head counselor, who thought Percy had stolen it. He hadn’t, but that’s another story.  
Year after year, they returned to the same camp, and kept in contact through letters and eventually texts during school time. Annabeth lived in California with her dad and stepmother, and Percy with his mom in New York City. At seventeen, they officially announced the rivalry over. Funnily enough, it was Percy’s absentee father and Annabeth’s equally dismissive mother who had the issues with each other, and many generations before them. So Sally, Percy’s mom, had only that grudge of her ex to hold on to, but she was ended up loving Annabeth, as though she were her daughter. Annabeth and Percy went to the same college out in California, and they both found jobs there after college, Annabeth as an architect and Percy as a swim teacher. They grew even closer as the years went on.  
Percy was brought back to the present moment after thinking of all this when Annabeth’s warm smile was asking what happened.  
After sufficiently drying himself off, he tugged on one of Annabeth’s golden curls. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he protested.  
“You definitely do. Your eye is twitching,” she retaliated.  
“So?”  
“So, something’s up. And, Rachel called me to tell me that you’d driven past her house with a stormy look in your green eyes.”  
“She can see my stormy green eyes all the way from her window?” Percy grumbled about their friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.  
“Seaweed Brain, something’s going on. Spill,” Annabeth commanded. Percy plopped down on the towel, followed by Annabeth. He refused to look at her gray, intelligent eyes as he told the story.  
“Not much to tell. Mari invited me to her wedding with Ron,” Percy muttered. He chanced a glance up and was surprised to see anger contort Annabeth’s face. And something else, that looked like pain.  
“That bitch,” she growled.  
“That sausage, you mean,” Percy corrected, but he felt considerably lighter knowing that Annabeth shared the same feelings as him.  
“No, she’s definitely a bitch. She knows you never got over her!” Annabeth said.  
“Hey,” protested Percy. “I got over her three years ago, when she broke up with me to be with him!” But he knew it wasn’t true. Well, not completely. It still hurt.  
“I am so going to rip her apart,” fantasized Annabeth.  
“I’m going,” Percy interjected. He braced for a storm of better ideas from Annabeth, but he was surprised to see her fists slacken. She looked at him, her face thoughtful, pink lips pursed.  
“Yes, I think you’d better.”  
“Really?”  
“It’ll help you get over her,” Annabeth decided.  
Percy’s insides seemed to squirm. In reality, he was thinking about getting one last jab at Mari, to go with someone else, just to show her that he was happy, too. That she didn’t wreck him. That he didn’t spend weeks on Annabeth’s couch, crying and having her hold him. An idea sparked in his head.  
“Come with me.”  
Annabeth looked up, shocked. “What?”  
“Come with me. We can have some fun, making fun of her. Get drunk.”  
From Annabeth’s worried expression, he was sure she was going to say no.  
“Fine,” she sighed. “When is it?”  
And that’s how the craziest week of their lives began.


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth got help from their friend Piper the next day, trying to find some slacks good enough for a wedding in Percy’s closet. As much as Piper tried to hide it, she had the best eye for clothing in their group of friends.   
After searching through every shirt in Percy’s wardrobe, all three had to agree that a green button down looked the best on him, as it matched his eyes. They still had issues finding a suitable pair of pants.  
“This is all I have,” protested Percy to Piper. They were going through his pants drawer looking for khakis. Annabeth sighed from behind him.  
“He’s right, Piper,” she conceded. “I’ve seen all of these clothes on him, but never khakis.”  
“You would know,” sighed Piper. Percy scowled. “What’s that’s supposed to mean? Annabeth doesn’t live with me. Wouldn’t I know?”  
Piper turned to him, a smile playing on her lips. Her multicolored eyes danced teasingly.  
“No, Percy, you wouldn’t. Annabeth spends a lot of time staring at you, so she would know the best.”  
Annabeth blushed scarlet. “Excuse me?” she sputtered. “I do NOT stare at Percy.”  
“Oh, never mind.”  
Percy was obviously confused.   
The girls went home exhausted. Percy collapsed on the couch after they left.

On Wednesday, five days before the wedding, Annabeth took Percy shopping.  
“We just need to find you some pants,” muttered Annabeth. She looked embarrassed, but as soon as she saw Percy looking at her, her face was guarded.   
“What’s wrong?” he asked. Percy grabbed Annabeth’s hand. To his surprise, she looked away and blushed. “What?” he asked again.  
“Just that… it’s kind of something that… people do as a couple, isn’t it?”  
Percy’s stomach contracted. He suddenly couldn’t breathe. He felt her callused hand in his, rough from working with a pencil for so long. Percy looked over at her. Why was she so worried? They’d been friends for years, this wasn’t anything new. They’d held hands before. They’d gone shopping before. They’d even fell asleep cuddling on the couch before. Suddenly, very cliché, Percy felt the urge to kiss her.  
When he was a teenager, he’d briefly felt this before with her; the breathlessness, the anticipation, the complete awkwardness and beauty at the same time. But he thought Annabeth liked an older boy, Luke, and so he never pursued. Eventually, he met Mari, and everything else fell away. He honestly thought Mari was the only one for him. Annabeth dated casually, and even had a serious boyfriend at one point, after she got over Luke. Still, he turned Annabeth towards him and leaned down as though to whisper in her ear. She turned her head, expecting his breath to go on her neck, but instead he blew a raspberry on the sensitive area beneath her ear. She shrieked as Percy started laughing. Annabeth, furious, chased Percy into the dressing room, where she pinned him against the wall. She reached up and flicked his forehead.  
“Remind me again why I put up with you?” she hissed, but there was no malice.   
“Because I’m adorable?” Percy tried.  
Annabeth opened her mouth as though to say something, but stopped herself. She tried to glare at him, while Percy felt vulnerable, as though she had the power to shred him with one action. Percy then realized they were involuntarily leaning in towards each other. Annabeth tilted her head to the side, and just as Percy could feel her minty breath on his lips, and he needed to move less than an inch more to get to the place he so wanted to reach, there was a knock on the door.  
“Are you kids alright in there?” an employees amused voice floated down on them.  
Percy’s voice didn’t seem to work. He mouthed soundlessly. Annabeth piped up, her voice higher than usual. “Um, yes, he’s just trying on some clothes,” she said breathlessly.   
“That must be hard, as you two left the clothes on the chair outside of the dressing room,” the woman remarked.   
Annabeth closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, while Percy remained frozen. He was certain his face was still scarlet. She slowly unlocked the door and walked out.   
Percy finally remembered how to move when Annabeth threw pants over the dressing room door. He grabbed them before they hit the floor (Percy always had had good reflexes) and commenced trying them on.  
The next hour went by excruciatingly slow. Percy tried unsuccessfully to find pants that both he Annabeth agreed looked good on him. Finally, after many smirks from the employee who had interrupted Annabeth and Percy’s moment, they agreed on a pair of khakis that were in the school section.  
As Percy paid for the pants, which, holy spaghetti, were more expensive than he thought, and walked out the door, Annabeth at his side, a frown creased his forehead.   
“Hey Annabeth,” he cautiously remarked. “What are you going to wear?”  
“Wear?” Annabeth sighed, looking distracted. She hadn’t been able to stand still since she walked out of the dressing room. Her bitten nails scratched her nose absentmindedly, as she walked with a little more purpose than usual. She glanced at Percy.  
“Yeah, to the wedding. That is, if you, um-“  
“Um, what?” Annabeth sharply said. “You think I’m not going?”  
“Well, you just seem… nervous. For the past hour, I mean.”  
All of a sudden, Annabeth’s nervous energy ceased. She rolled her eyes, but stood rooted to where she was. They stood outside of her car. Percy, with his ever moving energy and mind, wondered simultaneously if she was going to open the door, as well as if she was going to have a mental break down.  
“I mean, if you can’t go, or, um, changed your mind, um, that’s perfectly okay. I didn’t mean anything by… anything, by the way.” These words tumbled out of Percy’s mouth, and once he saw the disappointed look on Annabeth’s face, he wanted to slap himself.  
“Oh, I know. I didn’t either, of course. But obviously I’m still going. We’re best friends, right?” Annabeth put emphasis on the word friend, which caused a strange pang in his chest pulse in time with his heartbeat.  
“Yeah,” Percy mumbled.   
The car ride to Percy’s house went by in silence. Annabeth didn’t even turn NPR on, which Percy thought was bizarre. She always had the talk show on.   
“I’m wearing a grey dress,” remarked Annabeth out of the blue. “With little owl earrings. And a silver necklace.” Percy looked over at his best friend.  
“You know what I’m wearing,” was all his awkward mouth would say. “I mean, you’ll be a knockout, Annabeth.” Annabeth smiled gratefully.  
“Thanks. Not as good as Mari, though. And I’m sure there’ll be many other girls to capture your attention.”  
Percy realized with a jolt that Annabeth was actually looking for approval from him.  
“Nah. No sane person will be able to take his eyes off of you.” Including me, he wanted to say.  
“You included?” Annabeth hinted with a playful tone in her voice, and he knew she could read his eyes.   
“Come on, Annabeth,” said Percy. “I’m a sane person.”  
“Not sure about that,” Annabeth muttered.  
“Shut up,” laughed Percy as they pulled into his driveway. “Um, see you tomorrow?


	3. Chapter 3

Thursday, four days before the wedding, Percy drove to Grover Underwood’s house, his best friend other than Annabeth.   
“Dude!” called Grover from the driveway as Percy pulled in. He had been gardening his marigolds. “Don’t you have to be with Annabeth getting your hair cut?”   
“Nah,” said Percy, as he fist bumped Grover and got out of the car. “Not for another two hours.”  
“Then come on in.” Grover practically pirouetted his way to the front door. Percy smiled and rolled his eyes. He knew gardening always gave Grover a high.  
Percy followed Grover inside and sat on the couch next to the African violets. Grover sat across from him on the chair made from recycled plastic bags.   
“So what’s up?” asked Grover curiously.  
“What, I can’t have no reason to visit my best friend?” Percy teased.  
“You can, but we usually have plans,” replied Grover.   
Percy sighed. “Fine. I think I almost kissed Annabeth yesterday.”  
To Percy’s surprise, Grover didn’t die of shock. Instead, he smirked. “You think, or you know?”  
“Um, I think? Because one minute we were joking and the next we were leaning in. But maybe I’m hallucinating it. I mean, it was kind of unexpected.”  
“So, nothing happened before hand? To set the scene?” Grover probed.  
“Set the scene? We were shopping for pants.” Percy frowned. “Well, I did hold her hand. Then she pressed me against the wall.”  
“She pressed you against the wall?” Now Grover looked shocked.  
“No, man, it wasn’t like that,” Percy insisted. “We were joking. I did something stupid.”  
“Nothing out of the ordinary there,” muttered Grover.  
“Hey!”  
“Well, did you want to kiss her?” asked Grover.  
Percy was silent for a moment.  
“I think so,” he finally conceded. Grover let out a whoop.  
“Finally!” he shouted. “You two are seeing sense!” Percy was bewildered.  
“What do you mean?” Percy said.  
“Come on, Perce. You two have been dancing around the sexual tension since you met each other.”  
Percy sputtered. “Sexual tension? We were twelve!”  
“You know what I mean.”  
“No, I don’t.”  
Grover sighed. For some reason, he seemed irritated.  
“Percy. Face it. If Mari hadn’t been in the way, or Luke, you would have gotten together years ago. Maybe be married and have kids by now,” Grover insisted. Percy felt like his heart was swelling as he thought of all the little moments over the years that had been the happiest and most comfortable of his life. All of them were with Annabeth. Maybe it did make sense. Then, as if an ice cube had been dropped down his shirt, he felt dread settle in his stomach.  
“What should I do?” Percy asked Grover. “I’m horrible at this stuff. Does she know I know I like her? Does she know I know she likes me? Does she like me? What about Mari? I-“  
“Woah, I’m gonna stop you right there. Who cares about Mari?” Grover interrupted. “I know you were never completely over her, but she’s getting married, dude. And you love Annabeth. You’ve always loved Annabeth. Think of the wedding as a turning point. Get rid of Mari, start something new with Annabeth.”  
With those words, Percy felt as though he had been carrying Zeus’s lightning bolt and had finally let it go. He took a deep breath.   
“You’re right, G-man.”  
Grover sat back, looking satisfied. “Want to catch some basketball reruns before you head off?”  
“Yeah,” Percy said, and finally relaxed.

“You look different,” remarked Annabeth as she got into Percy’s car. “Did something happen?”   
Percy almost spit out, That’s because I’m finally over Mari and completely head over heels for you, but he didn’t. “Nah, Annabeth. Just went over to Grover’s and discussed some stuff.”  
Annabeth still looked confused, but she let it go.  
“So I’m going to have to bail on tomorrow,” she said casually. “You’re going to have to pick out a gift for her yourself.”  
“You must be over your vacation time with work, huh,” remarked Percy. She sighed.  
“Yeah. It was good while it lasted, but I can’t run around with you forever. I’ve been meaning to use my sick days for a while, anyways.” Percy nearly rear ended the car in front of them. “Percy! What the hell?”  
“You used your sick days to run around with me?” Percy demanded. He gained control of himself and gently eased back into the lane, but not without sending a poisonous glance in Annabeth’s direction.  
“It’s not that big of a deal!” she protested.  
“You’re right, it’s not. We don’t even have to go to the wedding. Why would you use sick days from the job of your dreams, designing buildings, to get me ready for some insignificant wedding?”  
They pulled in to the parking lot of the hair salon. Annabeth grabbed Percy’s arm before he stomped out of the car.  
“Percy, look at me,” she scolded. He did. “I did this because you are very important to me. You need to move on. I needed a vacation, and what better way than to spend it with you?” Annabeth’s grey eyes were serious. Percy hadn’t seen her this way since he had first broken up with the cheating Mari.  
“Okay,” he muttered, and smiled a bit. Annabeth let go of his arm.   
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get your hair spruced up.”  
In the middle of Percy getting his bangs shortened, he commented, “You know, Annabeth, you are pretty awesome.” He decided he might as well try to compliment her, as he had no idea how to woo a girl. Mari had been very straightforward in her attempts to win him over. Of course, he was won over the moment he saw her. Love at first sight, he used to think. Now, he wasn’t sure what it was.  
Annabeth looked down at him with an amused smile on her face. “Thanks, Seaweed Brain. You’re not so bad yourself.”  
Percy rolled his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Three days before the wedding, and Percy was starting to get nervous. He already missed Annabeth, which was ridiculous. It’s barely been twenty four hours! It’s not like you need to see her every day to function, he told himself. And that was true. Still, he couldn’t help wondering about what she was doing, if she was at work yet, what she had eaten for breakfast. He wondered if she had even eaten anything for breakfast. Sometimes she was running too late to eat, which made him worry. Maybe I need to make her breakfast every morning and force it into her hands. I’ll do that when we live together. Percy stopped himself. Live together? They weren’t even dating! He ran his fingers through his newly cropped hair and scowled. He didn’t need these kind of thoughts. He was already trying to figure out a way for him to confess his love, or whatever. After the wedding, of course. The main thing to do was get through the wedding. He still wondered why he was even going now that he was completely over Mari, but he figured it would be nice for him and Annabeth to have some stress relieving fun.  
He got out of his blue bed sheets and started the day.  
Finding a wedding gift for Mari and her almost husband was surprisingly easy. He looked up on the register what they wanted and drove to the mall to get the toaster.  
As he was looking for the exact brand, he glanced up to find a pair of glistening dark eyes looking at him, from the other side of the shelf. He knew exactly who they belonged to the moment he looked into them, and they recognized him as well.   
Mari Rodriguez positively squealed. “Percy! I knew it was you!” Even though he was finally over her, it still made him feel a little pressure in his chest when she said his name so casually. Uncomfortable, but not unbearable. “Hi,” he said awkwardly.  
“Who’d have thought we’d see each other before the wedding?” Mari smiled, a little ironically. She came over to the other side of the aisle next to him. She patted his shoulder uncertainly, not before she froze and asked, “Are we allowed to hug?”  
“Sure,” replied Percy, and she wrapped her arms around him. It was over quick enough, and Percy was surprised to find he was smiling and congratulating her. He meant it, too.  
“I see you’re buying a toaster for me,” Mari remarked, and he shrugged.   
“Now I guess I’ll have to find something else to get,” Percy said.   
“Guess so.” She smiled again, revealing bright white teeth on a naturally tan face. She ran her fingers through her dark, shiny hair.   
“Sorry.”  
“You should be.” This was the banter he was used to with Mari, but now it wasn’t flirtatious, just out of habit. “No, really, you can still get the toaster for us. We could really use one, assuming Ron doesn’t blow up the house.”  
“Oh, you guys have a house?”  
They chatted casually, and Percy thought about all the times he envisioned him going up to Mari and yelling at her about all the things that she did to hurt him, and how he thought they were happy, and she had to go and cheat on him with some random guy. She had a double life, and she chose this guy, Ron, over Percy. But now, he was just glad that it was over and she had chosen Ron. They both deserved happiness. And maybe he would find happiness with Annabeth.  
After he said goodbye to Mari, he ended up buying the toaster.  
Two days before the wedding. Percy was teaching at his job before he hightailed it to Annabeth’s condo.   
As he opened her door with his key that she had given to him about a year ago, he took in the lemon scent that was Annabeth’s lotion. He remembered when he first realized that was her signature smell, when they were both thirteen and she tackled him in a hug after he did something stupid. She had started doing that when he did something potentially dangerous, instead of glaring at him or stalking away as though he were the most disgusting thing on the planet.   
He loved that lotion.   
Percy went into her living room and put an architecture documentary on pause in the television. He was fairly sure she hadn’t seen that one yet. He skipped into the kitchen area and was almost done making pancakes when he heard the door to the condo click open. Keys clanged onto the table and a heavy bag hit the floor.   
“Percy?” Annabeth called. Percy smiled. She always knew when it was him.   
“In here,” he answered. Annabeth came into the kitchen and her whole body seemed to fill with relief, as her eyes drank in the scene. She put her arms out to Percy. He realized tears were going to spill down her face at any moment. He dropped the spatula and wrapped his arms around her.   
“What happened?” he whispered into her hair.   
“My boss,” was all Annabeth could get out for a few minutes.   
“My boss… she gave my project to some new guy because I didn’t give her enough warning for time off,” Annabeth finally told Percy.  
When it became obvious she would not be ready for pancakes any time soon, Percy led her to the couch and turned the documentary on for her. He went back and put the cooked pancakes in the freezer, and threw the newly burnt ones out. He reached into Annabeth’s cupboard to make a drink that they and their friends liked to call ambrosia. Percy poured the liquid into a glass and brought it to the couch where Annabeth lay, curled up in a ball. She was still crying, but the tears were slowing and her breath was returning to normal. She was watching the document, and he slowly enveloped her in his arms. She sighed and sat up slightly to drink the ambrosia.   
“I’m sorry,” Percy breathed into her ear, sometime later, when the credits for the film were rolling.  
Annabeth snuggled deeper in his arms. “It isn’t your fault. I know what you’re thinking. I told you, I wanted to spend time helping you out. It’s my fault, I should’ve let her know before.”  
“Hey. If it’s anyone’s fault it’s hers. You had time off due and you took it,” he consoled her. He felt her body shake, and was ready to comfort her from more tears, but instead she stood up and held out her hand. He took it.   
“You think we can defrost those pancakes?” Annabeth asked Percy.  
They spent the rest of the evening eating pancakes, and then drinking several glasses of ambrosia, and tumbled into Annabeth’s bed by nine.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Percy felt Annabeth move out of his arms and the bed around six, but he fell back asleep. Not before, however, he felt a gentle pair of lips touch his own.   
The day before the wedding found Percy dozing in Annabeth’s comfortable queen sized bed. He didn’t have work until two, and the past week had been eventful, while not necessarily stressful. He had mostly been taxed by the emotional part of this whole wedding thing.   
Percy eventually got up. He found a note near the toaster in Annabeth’s kitchen and immediately felt bad. “Had to get up for work. See you tomorrow. –Annabeth”  
After eating some of Annabeth’s Special K, he got his keys and drove back to his apartment.   
Surprisingly, this day was very uneventful. He paid bills. Ate pizza around one. Went to work after that, until eight at night.   
Percy went to sleep with a content feeling, and his dreams were, too.   
In his dream, he was in his old bunk from camp, listening to the gentle laps of the calm morning ocean. Percy snuggled deep into his sleeping bag thrown over the bunk- he was too much of a slob to bother putting on the sheets his mother made him pack.   
The scene changed seamlessly. He was now in Annabeth’s bed, his eyes closed. He got a strong whiff of her lotion, and suddenly he felt a soft pair of lips place on top of his, just as he had the morning before. However, while during the original kiss he was disoriented and wondering if he was dreaming, this time he suddenly felt wide awake. Percy sat up, and saw Annabeth about to turn the corner. He jumped out of bed and grabbed her hand to pull her around, and was just about to kiss her right, fully, without abandon, when-  
Percy groaned. His alarm was blaring to the sound of phony thunder, a sure thing to shoot him out of his sleep. Percy was terrified of anything sky related.  
He wiped his eyes, bleary with sleep, while he got out of bed to turn the fake thunder off. Percy thought about his dream. It all seemed so real, and he felt as though he had been robbed. Later, he reminded himself. After the wedding, he would find a way to see how they both really felt.   
Percy felt himself getting nervous. His chest was starting to constrict. Take deep breaths, he heard his mother’s voice say, soothing him out of his anxiety. His ever busy hands were tapping the table that he was leaned over, and he made them still. He could do several things to calm down, but the first thing that popped into his head was to really hear his mother’s voice.  
Percy dug through his drawers to find his old track phone. He didn’t like using phones of any kind, as he was convinced someone somewhere was going to find him through the database of sorts and attack him. But he figured talking to his mom for a few wouldn’t kill him.  
She picked up after two rings.  
“Percy!” came the voice of his beloved mother, Sally. “How are you?”  
“Hi, Mom,” Percy said, and felt the rush of blood pumping through his body slow down. “I’m okay. How are you?”  
“I’m busy writing that new book. The publisher’s on me about getting it in by next month. Now, what’s wrong with you?”   
Percy sighed. He imagined his mother’s blue eyes squinting, and her lips purse, as she always knew when something was wrong. This was why he called her- she knew him better than he knew himself.   
“Nothing, Mom. Just…” Percy began, but he didn’t know how to finish the sentence.  
“Girl trouble?”   
“What? Mom!” Percy hated how his voice went up an octave, like he was twelve again. He knew, though, that Sally had the best advice in the world when it came to girls. Or, anything, really.  
“Honey, is it Annabeth? Are you two fighting again?”  
He sighed again, but decided to tell the truth.  
“I- yes, it’s Annabeth. We’re not fighting. We’re fine. Better than fine.”   
“Are you together?” Sally asked this like she was asking what the weather was like in Los Angeles. However, just as Percy’s mom knew him, he knew her, and heard the concealed excitement behind her calm voice.  
“That’s the problem, Mom.”  
“The problem is, you’re not together, but you want to be.”  
“Uh, yeah,” Percy replied, feeling as awkward and embarrassed as he did when he came to her to tell her about his first kiss.  
“Does she know?” Sally asked, but immediately corrected herself. “I’m sure she does. She sees through you in a second.”  
“What?” Percy said, astounded. “She does NOT see through me. How can she know? Why wouldn’t she do anything?”  
“Are you sure she hasn’t tried to do anything?” Sally said, and Percy couldn’t help but get the feeling she was trying to sound as therapeutic as possible.  
“I mean… I guess she might’ve. We sleep in the same bed when we sleep over. I hold her, like, a lot. And… she did kiss me.”  
It was Sally’s turn to sigh. “Oh, Percy. What did you do?”  
“I was sleeping, so I just… turned over, I think?”  
“Oh, Percy,” she said again.  
Percy resisted the urge to say, “Oh, Mom.” What he did say was, “I guess… I should apologize?”  
“I don’t know, sweetheart. It’s up to you. Go with your gut; you have an exceptionally accurate one. But, it’s obvious she likes you. It’s been obvious for as long as I can remember. You two have been dancing around each other for years.”  
“That’s what Grover said,” Percy grumbled. “I can’t believe she knows.”  
“Whatever you do, however it ends up, know I’m here for you, Percy. I have to go write, but call me when you can. And have fun at the wedding.”  
“How did you know about the wedding?” Percy asked suspiciously.  
“I talk to Annabeth, too, you know.”  
And with another goodbye and loves exchanged, they hung up.  
It was time for the wedding.


	6. Chapter 6

Percy felt calm. He was put together. He had on his game face, his fighting face.   
He went to pick up Annabeth, and found her waiting outside of her door. He was not breathless, as they usually are in movies, he thought. Rather, he felt light and happy. Percy saw her head tilt and her pink lips curl up to smile at him. He got out of the car… everything felt as though it were in slow motion. Her grey dress was slim, but not tight- it fit the contours of her body. It was sleeveless, and had a swirly pattern on the neckline. Her hair was up in a bun with curly tendrils floating down.   
Still in slow motion, Percy hugged Annabeth. He tried to hold on a little longer than strictly necessary to say hello. He, however, did end up being the first one to let go.  
“So.” Percy said once they got in the car. He looked over at her before he started the engine. “Ready?”  
“Ready, Seaweed Brain.”  
The car ride to the event felt oddly tense. Occasionally, Percy would open his mouth to say something, but ultimately shut it again. They pulled into the parking lot.

The wedding was loud.   
That was the first thing Percy thought to himself as they entered. Classical music (since when did Mari like classical music?) was booming through the speakers. He looked over at Annabeth when she tugged his hand and pointed at a picture taking booth.   
“Let’s go get our picture taken,” she offered.  
“I guess,” Percy said stupidly. He felt her calloused hand in his. Why did he have to wait for the wedding to be over? He cursed to himself, as he turned to tuck her hair in, automatically. Annabeth tucked it out from under her ear. He looked into her grey eyes and thought about how it just may be his new favorite color.  
“I’m always going to be there, Seaweed Brain,” she whispered, and suddenly, it was over. The years of waiting ended, as he reached down to kiss her, right and properly this time.   
And she kissed back.


End file.
